Feature films and television shows notoriously play fast-and-loose with the facts. When prologues proclaim “Based on a True Story,” they’re gracefully implying that what follows is mostly fiction. Awards…

All that research has made Tom a dull boy.
BBC/Company Productions LtdJanuary 22 2015

In his biography of Sir Thomas More, Peter Ackroyd audaciously asks us to imagine pre-Reformation London as the street markets of Marrakesh. Cheapside would have been a bustling surge of traders and customers…

The television adaptation of Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies is already being hailed as possibly the “greatest period drama ever made”. Certainly, much has been made of its attention to historical detail…

Roald Dahl hated adaptations of his work, and often I agree with him. The original books have such a place in so many people’s hearts and open up the imagination so much that once on screen they can feel…

As much as we like to think that we vote on substance – not style – studies have shown that physical appearance matters to voters.
Carlo Allegri/ReutersDecember 18 2014

While much of the 2014 midterm election analysis centered on the Republican takeover of the Senate, the pundits may have overlooked an important development: the end of a time when politicians looked a…

All the Eastern stereotypes are here.
Phil Bray for NetflixDecember 17 2014

The first series of Marco Polo, released by Netflix, comes hot on the heels of the likes of House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. It’s the second most expensive television series ever made. Expectations…

At the opening night of the Victorian College of the Arts graduate film screening season this month, keynote speaker Clayton Jacobson (writer/director of Kenny, 2006) mentioned to the audience his belief…

It is a name that most will have heard of, but few, perhaps, actually know much about. But Marco Polo, an epic ten-episode programme hosted by Netflix, may change that. The show has already been dubbed…

Benefits Street is back and it’s ok if you don’t like it.
Joe Giddens/PA ArchiveNovember 20 2014

ITV has recently announced that it will not commission a second series of the controversial comedy series Dapper Laughs. The decision comes after a petition to have the programme removed from the air gathered…

Warning: this article contains spoilers. The eighth series of Doctor Who began by introducing a new Doctor, in the shape of Peter Capaldi. But now we’ve reached its end an even greater talking point is…

What is a “spoof documentary”? I ask because according to the Daily Mail, that’s what Channel 4 has just commissioned – a film about the “imagined” first 100 days of a UKIP government after a stunning…

Not all British period dramas are the same. They don’t all involve servants faithfully tendering to lovable members of the aristocracy. Many do, of course, especially given the commercial imperative of…

Come play with us. For ever. And ever. And ever.
Alex EylarOctober 15 2014

Yesterday the Danish Toymaker Lego announced its plans for a reality TV show to be launched in 2015, rumoured to be based on the idea of Master Builders, the top “construction workers” in the insanely…

In a production office far, far away someone has decided to turn the 1970s BBC sitcom Dad’s Army into a film. Its cast features some of Britain’s finest acting talent – and Catherine Zeta-Jones. But this…

So the cryptic teasers posted on Twitter by Mark Frost and David Lynch have substance: Twin Peaks will be returning to television screens 25 years after its cancellation. The new series will be a nine-episode…

Reality television, alongside shows such as Q&A – which may be Reality TV in all but name – frequently drives social media conversations about the Australian television industry. Big Brother, currently…

A fundamental aspect of drama is the need for rising tension.
MariaOctober 6 2014

A special thing happened in August this year: Foxtel launched BBC First, a premium channel showcasing the best of contemporary British television drama. As a global channel that chose Australia as its…

Your living room is in danger of being invaded by criminals with Brummie accents. Not a reason for fitting a new burglar alarm, I hasten to add, but an alert for the BBC’s new series of Peaky Blinders…